Welcome to the

International Council of Yacht Clubs

The ICOYC website provides a window into the world of the leading yacht clubs, with their long histories and fine traditions. Over the past several years, a significant number of these clubs have joined together to form the International Council of Yacht Clubs. This has helped them by sharing their experiences, learning from their successes (and failures), and reviewing the common challenges they face.

On this website you will find information, news and views about the ICOYC, details of the member clubs, plans for events, and comments on yachting-related developments. You will also find copies of the ICOYC printed newsletters. Full proceedings of world-wide forums and regional conferences are in the pages reserved for signed-in members of ICOYC.

What's New at ICOYC ?

Last updated Thursday, August 17, 2017

Visit the CURRENTS section featuring late breaking news in the yachting world.

Youth Exchange Program LaunchedICOYC Director Aaron Young of Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron has been leading a program to facilitate the exchange of young sailors within the ICOYC community. This initiative is new and has been growing since it was launched during the Auckland World Forum. Read more about it and the participating clubs in On the Water/ICOYC Youth Exchange.

ICOYC 2018 BC Sunshine Coast Cruise - 03-13 September 2018

Join our fellow members of Royal Vancouver in hosting an eleven-day cruise from Vancouver up to Princess Louisa Inlet and back. The cruise fleet will have ten boats from SYC, ten from RVYC, and ten boats chartered by members of the other 34 clubs of the International Council of Yacht Clubs. These international cruises have been very popular and the fleet is expected to fill up quickly. You can read the Cruise Overview , the route, the costs, and open the 60+ page Skippers’ Handbook on the ICOYC website, www.ICOYC.org. Look at On The Water/ICOYC Cruises, scroll down the page, and open the tab labeled “2018 September – BC Sunshine Coast”.

The Asia-Pacific Regional Conference 2017 will be held in Sydney on 28-30 September 2017 hosted by Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. More information will be posted on Regional Conferences/Asia-Pacific.

Register Now!
San Francisco 2018 Forum

The April 2018 World Forum is open for registration. Check out Forums/Upcoming World Forum for details on the delegates' and partners' agendas, accommodations, and location. The co-hosts, St Francis YC and San Francisco YC, have been working diligently for the past year on creating a fabulous ICOYC World Forum. San Francisco in the Spring is a wonderful venue, but you do need to reserve your accommodations fairly soon.

The event starts on Monday, April 16, and closes on Friday, April 20. You all are invited to spend the post-forum weekend in San Francisco celebrating the Opening Day of yachting season in the scenic San Francisco Bay. Review the post-forum details on the webpage.

See you in San Francisco!!!

Upcoming Regional Conferences

Scroll down to Currents, the bulletin board showing news articles of interest to ICOYC members.

A Message from the President of ICOYC

Welcome to the Council's website. We trust you will be able to gain an insight into many of our member yacht clubs from around the world and the activities the Council promotes. Yachting is amazing how it fires the passion for the sea, it is good for the soul and, best of all, it joins us together from many corners of the globe.

The well-established clubs of the ICOYC share history and traditions that are relevant to today's sailing, but also these experiences can be utilised to shape the future of our sport. At the Council we share our thoughts and ideas for the future so we can learn from the hard fought lessons of others. This commitment to learning and sharing underlies all that we are passionate about, that is to improve and grow sailing for the future generations of our clubs.

Clubs are important to the longevity of our sport, allowing opportunities for like-minded persons to go sailing and share the thrill and share enjoyment of time on the water. Many of our clubs operate very similarly, therefore the sharing by members allows take outs that improve what we do, irrespective of where our sailing waters are located.

The participants in the Council's organisational structure are a mix of highly motivated volunteers who are currently or have been Flag Officers or Commodores. This experience at high levels of individual club participation provides valuable insights that can be shared readily with Council members.

We must not forget why we go sailing and that is to have fun with our fellow members. To develop the social side of the Council while learning we annually meet in the regions globally to share our comraderie that we foster and develop over years of exchange.

Our role is to ensure our clubs are relevant to the future so sailing can grow and strengthen through our actions and care for our sport. Take a look and see for yourself. Please click here for contacts in the member clubs and here for contracts in the Board of Directors.

A Note to Visitors

The headlines below point to reports, print articles, and web sites of interest to members of ICOYC clubs. Click on the headline to open up the expanded text and internet links. Send your reports and items that will be of interest to fellow ICOYC club members to webeditor@icoyc.orgfor publication.

Occasionally more ICOYC-specific material is posted on the private pages of this website. These are only available to members of Council yacht clubs who have passwords. If your club is a member of the ICOYC, and you have some particular interest, please inquire of your club’s Representative for information on how to get access to the private pages.

Note: The links marked Members Only are password protected and are only available to logged-in members of ICOYC. Comments can be addressed to webeditor@icoyc.org

Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club and Hong Kong Sailing Federation are pleased to announce that the 5th edition of Hong Kong Race Week will take place from 20 to 25 February 2018.
Hong Kong Race Week, a constituent event of the ASAF Youth Cup, draws strong competition not only from local and regional Asian sailors but also from other regions across the world. The last event seeing 253 entries, consisting of 278 sailors, representing 11 nations.
Record entries are expected for the 2018 Hong Kong Race Week with heightened interest being generated from the upcoming 2017 Optimist Asian and Oceanian Championship, and the 2018 29er World Championships, taking place in October and January. These high-calibre events along with the 2018 Volvo Ocean Race stopover have raised the profile and recognition of Hong Kong as a premier racing destination.
Hong Kong Race Week will be based out of Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club’s Middle Island facility racing will take place on its world class race tracks surrounding Middle Island including Repulse Bay, Deep Water Bay, Stanley, Tai Tam and Beaufort

Volvo Hong Kong to Vietnam Race 2017
International Interest From Afar
International entries from seven countries mark the first sign ups for the 8th Hong Kong to Vietnam Race; the 673nm predominantly downwind run to Nha Trang Beach, Vietnam. Racing kicks off on 18 October 2017 on Victoria Harbour in front of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club’s flagship Clubhouse at Kellett Island.
The Category 1 Offshore race is known for its windy and warm weather sailing conditions and is run under the auspices of RORC. Racing finishes in Nha Trang which boasts many family-friendly resorts and is very accessible with Cam Ranh International Airport located about 40 minutes from Nha Trang town.
The first entries hail from Great Britain, Italy, China, Russia, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Among them is Team Australia; a Sydney based ORMA 60 trimaran owned and skippered by renowned yachtsman Sean Langman. She will no doubt be vying to add to her list of records by breaking the current multihull record set by Atmosphere in 2006 of 47h40m25s. In February 2013, Team Australia set a new record with the World Sailing Speed Record Council of 29h52m23s for sailing the famous stretch of water between Sydney and Hobart - over the 63nm, Team Australia averaged 22kts and reached a top speed of 39.6kts.
RORC Rear Commodore and Vietnam Race Chairman Joachim Isler (also co-owner of Mills 41 Ambush), summed up the race saying “it’s a very exciting downwind run, all the elements you would expect from an offshore race. Racing starts in cooler heavy conditions with the north-easterly monsoon breeze sending the fleet surfing down the track to a great finish in Nha Trang’s tropical conditions!”
Under a new name and owner, Seng Huang Lee’s 100ft super maxi Scallywag will be looking to better her 2015 monohull record of 42h17m24s when she was named Ragamuffin 100 and owned by Syd Fischer.
The Volvo Hong Kong to Vietnam Race is a biennial event which coincides with Volvo China Coast Regatta; a three day big boat event sailed in Hong Kong waters.
The Notice of Race for the 2017 Volvo Hong Kong to Vietnam Race starting on 18 October 2017 is available online at https://www.chinacoastraceweek.com/race
Click on the article title to see more information

A bit of news from the Royal Southern:
Having recently hosted the J/70 European Championships and J/80 National Championships
from 10th - 14th July we are hosting the J/80 World Championships. This is a major event for the RSrnYC with boats entered from around the World. Many Members are preparing for the Fastnet Race which starts on 6th August and we are running the second Hamble Classics event on 16th/17th September bringing many famous old Classic Yachts back to the Southern for some fine racing in the Solent.
Also, Royal Southern Yacht Club Member Annabel Vose was tactician on the Land Rover BAR Academy GB team winning the Red Bull Youth Amerca’s Cup title. Well done Annabel who’s father is Rear Commodore Sailing at the Royal Southern.

2017 Optimist Asian & Oceanian Championships
Hong Kong, 30 September to 7 October 2017
IODA and HKODA in conjunction with the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, today announced the release of the Notice of Race for the 2017 Optimist Asian & Oceanian Championships. Hong Kong has the honor of hosting the 2017 edition of the event, and eligible skippers are invited to apply for entry to this premier event via online registration.
Race Chairman for the 2017 Asian & Oceanian Championship, Gregoire Bourrut Lacouture, is enthusiastic about the early interest in the build up to the event: “We are very excited to host the 2017 Asian & Oceanian Championship. Early interest has already been registered by teams from New Zealand and Australia, with many of the sailors having taken advantage to compete on the Asian’s race track in February at Hong Kong Race Week. Hong Kong’s world class sailing venue will challenge the top 180 sailors from around Asia and Oceania, expected to compete at the event
Entries for the 2017 Asian & Oceanian Championship, close on 1 June 2017. The 2017 Asian & Oceanian Championships, Notice of Race is now online at: http://www.optimistasianoceanian2017.com
For further details about the 2017 Asian & Oceanian Championships, please contact
Nikki Claringbold
Nikki.Claringbold@rhkyc.org.hk or
Official race website:
http://2017asianoceanians.optiworld.org/en/default/races/race

Having the Time of Their Lives
March 3, 2017 – New York, NY
Two Californians traveled to the New York Yacht Club to pick up their reward and recognition for receiving the prestigious US Sailing Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year awards. Given out since 1961 and sponsored by Rolex since 1980, the awards recognize male and female sailors who have demonstrated on-the-water excellence and superior results at international and/or national events. It’s an outstanding accomplishment for two very young and accomplished sailors. Click on article's title to see full story and photo.

It will not have escaped many people's notice that 2017 is the year of the America's Cup in
Bermuda, a much‐anticipated sporting event of global interest and of special significance to the
Trustees, Management team, Supporters and Beneficiaries of the Andrew Simpson Foundation
(ASF). The Foundation's founding Trustees include Sir Ben Ainslie and Iain Percy OBE.
The Foundation is the charity that was set up to honour the life and legacy of sailor Andrew 'Bart'
Simpson MBE who lost his life, aged 36, in a tragic accident during training for the 34th
America's Cup in San Francisco Bay in 2013.
*** read the full article and the Bart's Bash by clicking on the article title and downloading the PDF HERE ***

Save the date - Yacht Racing Forum 2017
The leading annual conference for the business of sailing and yacht racing will take place on November 27 - 28 in Aarhus, Denmark.
February 14, 2017 - After a successful edition in Malta, the Yacht Racing Forum invites members of the yacht racing community from all over the world to Save the Date and join the 2017 event, on November 27-28 in Aarhus, Denmark.
Organized by MaxComm Communication and presented by Aarhus Events, Sport Event Denmark and Sailing Aarhus, the Forum will provide a unique opportunity to network, debate the future of the sport and make business for the tenth year in a row.
We accept early registrations. Our Early Bird rate will be valid for the top 80 registrants !
If you want to learn more about this event, check the 2016 Post Event Report, with some interesting statistics and achievements from last year’s Forum.
We look forward to welcoming you to the Yacht Racing Forum 2017 in Aarhus !
For more information and registration: www.yachtracingforum.com
*** Click on the article title to expose the web links ***

Every year, Rolex Big Boat Series reestablishes itself as the premier US west coast sailing regatta, with top-tier race management and an unbeatable sailing venue. In 2016, St. Francis Yacht Club welcomed the regatta’s biggest fleet in history with 125 competitors. This year, from September 13–17, 2017, the club is prepared to host another great event, this time welcoming the new glamor class of the Pacific 52s as it arrives on the international racing stage.
The Pac52, which features the hull of a TP52 with a slightly taller mast and lighter engine, turned heads at the 2016 Rolex Big Boat Series when Victor Wild’s (San Diego, Calif.) Pac52 Fox dominated in ORR A, besting her seven-boat class with four first-place finishes and a low score of 12 points. This year, four Pac52s are slated to race in the Rolex Big Boat Series.
In addition to the Pac52 class, the 2017 Rolex Big Boat Series expects to welcome several Santa Cruz 50s and 52s, a variety of PHRF and ORR rated boats and multiple one-design classes including J/105s, J/120s, J/70s, Express 37s and California 40s.
Whether you are a repeat competitor or a first-time San Francisco racer, the 52nd Rolex Big Boat Series is an unbeatable way to cap off your season. The event NOR is posted and registration is open. Click on the article title to see the weblinks.

Breaking News on the back-to-back crossing the Atlantic Regattas.
The westbound leg will be started on Lanzarote, Canary Islands / SPAIN on November 25th, 2017 with the finish line in front of the Caribbean Clubhouse of Yacht Club Costa Smeralda – www.yccs.it – on Virgin Gorda, BVI.
The return leg eastbound will be started on July 7th, 2018 from Hamilton / BERMUDA to Hamburg / GERMANY where the NRV will receive the participants for a big party while celebrating its 150th Anniversary.
At this time 31 yachts and their crews have already registered for the event but we hope to net a couple of more yachtsmen from the ICOYC member clubs and other yacht clubs to participate in this once in a lifetime regatta series.
For more information, look at the regatta website – www.anniversary-regatta.com
Click on the article title to download more information.